14- Broken Promises

“Now, remember that the homework is due this Friday.” The teacher said. I got up from my seat and put my books in my back pack. English was our last class before lunch and I was starving.

“We will meet you in the cafeteria” Red said as she waved me off.

Jimmy kissed me on the cheek and whispered ‘thank you’ in my ear before following her sister out of the door. The only ones in the classroom were Jess and I. It was a little awkward between us since our encounter at the Grand Ball but we still hung out together every day.

“Hey Siana wait up” I heard Jessica said as I walked out of the classroom. I was a bit surprised by the tone of her voice.

“What’s up?” I said when I turned around to face her.

“Did you notice anything wrong with Jimhaya?”  She asked me nervously.

“She’s a little quieter than usual, why?”

“She kissed me on the cheek and told me she loved me” I frowned but Jessica shrugged her shoulders.

“Maybe she’s finally coming around” With that she walked away. “I’ll catch you later. Ren is bringing me to lunch”

I made my way to the table in the cafeteria where Red was siting. Jimmy was nowhere in sight. Red was surrounded by a group of students who were talking animatedly. She smiled and laughed at the right jokes but I knew she was enjoying the attention. I pecked her on the cheek as I sat down beside her. The girls on the table squealed and giggled like children and the guys were drooling all over the table. Rumor was that Red and I we’re a couple. It was fine by us because the students stopped trying to ask us out. Well, less than usual. Poor Red, she was the one every guy tried to hook up with because Jess belonged Ren and Jimmy was avoided like leper. The only problem with the rumor was the kids here wanted to see us kiss and kept insisting. We were the cute couple while Jess and Ren was the perfect couple. Those two were bathed in popularity and they loved it. It was a good change of pace for me because I used to be the top girl and that demanded a lot.

“Hey, where’s Jimmy? I want to talk to her” I asked her.

“I don’t know, why?”

“She’s been acting weird today. She even kissed Jess on the cheek.” Red froze. Her face paled and her hands started to shake.

“What?” she whispered. “What day is it?”

“The tenth of August. Why?”

“Oh Gods, how did I forget?”

“Red wha-“ Red grabbed my arm and shot up from her seat dragging me with her. She started running towards the exit. Once we got out of the school, we raced towards the parking lot. From afar, I could see Jess and Ren making their way to his car.

“JESS” Red screamed at the top of her lungs. Her sister turned around. “CAR” Using her speed, Jess met us at her silver sport car. Red opened the back door and threw me in as Jessica started the car without questions.

“How could I have miss calculated? I thought you were enough.” She rambled, “No, no, you were enough. Something must have ticked her off. Damn it!” she screamed in anger. She swung her arm forward and ripped the head set of the passenger seat.

“Jasmine” Jess and I screamed. “What’s going on?”

“Do you remember the deal I made with Jimhaya?” she asked me.

“The one when she has the right to kill herself?” I paled.

“What?” Jess shouted in front. “Jasmine, what’s going on? Where are we going?”

“Home, and drive faster.” Red said. “Listen to me Siana. You have to stop her. I’m not allowed to intervene but you are. That’s why Jessica is driving. When we arrive at the house, you run. You Run Siana, and you stop her. She’s still alive, I can sense her. I can’t pin point her location in the house. Don’t stop Jessica; I don’t care if you burn a red light.” She stared at me intently. “I will not lose a sister today”

“We’re here” Jess told us. “Shit mom’s here”

“Go” Red said. I jumped out of the car before it came to a complete stop and started running to the house. Jess and Jasmine were hot on my heels as we passed Kelly’s silver car in the parking lot. My heart was pumping extremely fast. I don’t think I ever ran this fast in my life. It seemed as if I ran for hours even though it was merely seconds.

We barged into the house and hesitated for a second, not knowing where Jimmy was. Then I heard sounds to my right.

“Jamie what are you doing?” Kelly’s shaky voice said.

Without another thought, I dashed through the living room and saw Jimhaya facing her mother. She had a gun pointed to her head. I never stopped running as used my wind magic to leap into the air. My body crashed with hers and I heard a gunshot next to my head. I lost my grip on Jimmy on impact as we rolled across the room. I barely had time to get on my knees to see the brown haired girl diving for the gun that had slipped from her grip. I jumped again and caught her by the waist and held her down. At the same time, Jessica grabbed the gun and held it to her chest.

“No, give it back. Give it back. It’s mine” Jimhaya was trashing in my arms and it took every ounce of strength to not let her go. “It’s mine, give it back” She kept yelling gibberish and demanding to have the gun back. Jessica held the object closer to her.

“Please, give it back, please. I have the right” the girl in my arms begged. After a long time, she finally stopped trashing and went limp in my arms. I was not expecting the sudden weight so I lost my grip and she dropped to her knees like a ragged doll. “I just want it end” she whispered.

Then she screamed. She screamed in agony and cried in pain. None of us moved. None of us breathed as we listen to the excruciating sound of her cries and pleads to end her life. I turned my head away from the sight because I couldn’t take it anymore. I felt my own tears slowly falling down my cheeks as I try to shut out the horrible sound of my friend’s wailing. I was so lost, my heart broke in my chest. I had no idea what to do or how to comfort her. I looked at the rest of the family and saw they were in the same position as me. Red walked towards her crying sister and fell to her knees in front of her. Her tears were running down her face like a river.

“I’m sorry” she cried. She said those three words over and over again, hoping it would make a difference. She moved her up to touch her sister but stopped before contact. Jimmy’s cries went silent and her whole body went rigid. Her hand shot out and grabbed the redhead’s hair in a death grip. Jasmine yelped in pain and surprise. The three of standing stepped forward to intervene if something happened to her.

“You bitch!”Jimhaya spat in her sisters’ face. I heard Kelly gasped when she saw her daughter’s red eyes “You promised me. You promised I was going to end it”

“I know. I’m so, so, sorry. Please don’t- don’t do it, I beg you.”

“You can’t always watch over me. One day you’ll slip and you won’t be able to stop me”. Having no more energy in her body, Jimhaya released her sister and curled her body in a fatal position. She lay down on her side and tucked her head in her knees and her arms were surrounding her protectively. Red stood up but was soon thrown into the nearby wall.

“Mom” Jess screamed. Kelly had a hand raised while she performed magic to keep Red on the wall. She moved to stand in front of her hanging daughter.

“Jasmine Lilian Hundale. You will tell me exactly why my daughter just tried to shoot herself in the head. No more excuses, no more lies and no more avoiding the questions. You will tell me what in the HELL is going on with my daughter or I swear by all the gods and magic in this world I will rip the answers from your mind and it will hurt greatly” Mrs. Hundale said in pure rage. She was putting more force into her magic because we could see Jasmine squirming in pain.

“No more lies I will tell you what I can” Red choked out.

“You will tell me everything.”

“No” Red cried. She was having trouble breathing now but she managed to take a deep breath and try to calm her nerves. “Please mother, do not ask me to break that promise” Her mother reluctantly released her daughter from the wall. Red stumbled and I caught her before she fell to the floor.

“I’ll call your father to come right away” she said before walking out of the living room.

“Siana, could you take Jamie to your room at school. I will tell them what you already know.” I nodded. “And please do not let her out of your sight” Her face was as pale as chalk. Her sad eyes were puffy and swollen from crying.

“What is going to happen now?” I asked her.

“I have no idea” she whispered. It was for the first time since we met that I saw my friend lost. She always knew what to do and what to say. She always had a smile on her face and always managed to find the best out of any situations. But it was all gone now and the moment we needed her most to find a solution was the moment she couldn’t find one. But I was determined to help her figure something out, only not today.

I nodded again. “Ok” I kissed her on the cheek before making my way to her sister curled up in a ball on the floor. I bent down and slowly picked her up in my arms. I was very careful with my movement like she was the most fragile object in the world. Jessica rushed to her sister and gave her a hug. They clung to each other like their life depended on it.

“Come on honey, everything is going to be alright” I cooed in her ear. I placed my forehead on hers for a second. Her touch comforted me a little. I was so glad she was alive even though it would have been better for her to have died. I shuddered at the thought of her being dead. “You are going to get through this and I am going to be there every step of the way”

I made my way to the front door which was already opened. I remembered I didn’t have a car because we came with Jessica. I unfolded my wings and my shirt ripped in the back to give them access to move. I jumped in the air and flapped my powerful wings a couple of times before the wind took us towards the school. I looked down at girl in my arms. She was starting into nothing and her body was totally limp in my arms. Her face was blank and her eyes went back to her normal beautiful deep blue colour. I made my way back to my balcony which was shared with my neighbor. It was a big Victorian semi-circle balcony with white railings. My neighbor and I had place two swing chairs and a lovely table beside the railing. I opened my back door and slipped into my dorm. It was more of an apartment with the kitchen, living room, bathroom and bedroom. I placed Jimhaya under my covers and kissed her forehead. Her eyes were still opened and now staring at the sealing.

“Go to sleep love. We’ll figure something out tomorrow” I kissed both of her eyes and her lips. Her eyes slowly shut themselves and her breath became even. I brought and armchair from the other room and place it beside the bed. I dropped into the chair and watched the girl sleep. I was so exhausted about the event but I was not going to close my eyes until one of the Hundales’ came back. I looked on my side table and the clock only showed three pm.

I sighed. ‘It is for the best’, I thought.